DestinyAgain
by PetalsofmyDreams
Summary: Three years have passed since the war and ambassadors from all four nations are meeting...can Zuko and Katara work together?... or will calamity strike? Zutara
1. Prolouge

Zuko glanced as his surroundings, relieved to be alone for a while. As he stood, he pondered his current situation.

_It's so different now. __So beautiful…_

Since he had left the Earth kingdom capital of Ba Sing Se three years ago, major changes had occurred in the city. An aura of pure happiness now radiated off of everyone and everything. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, Zuko would've had a hard time believing just how different things were. But then again, things were changing quickly everywhere.

The war was over. The avatar had defeated his _father_ – he hated calling Ozai that—and now his uncle, his real father, was the king of the Fire nation. He was glad, proud, that he had been able to leave Ozai. It was the first thing that had gone right for him.

The Fire Nation was a hierarchy of corruption and schemes. Power and control within it depended on lies and brute force. If you lacked either, you were doomed. His scar proved that…..

Zuko looked out at the people bustling through the streets. People wandered about, and the energy levels everywhere were high due to anticipation of the avatar-festival. It felt good to see the city in which he himself had been reborn, come back to life. No more fear. No more hate.

And the avatar had finally mastered all four elements. At 15 he was still the youngest avatar to learn all the four elements. Slowly, peace had settled back in, and the nations had begun to cooperate, work in harmony.

Zuko snapped out of his ponderings as he felt another presence behind him. He turned around.

"What are _you _doing here?"

The woman standing before him was dressed in Fire nation attire that resembled him own. She looked at him, and chuckled mockingly.

"Well, well, if it isn't my charming older brother… I didn't know you were one for daydreaming."

"Azula," Zuko's acknowledgement was cold. "You do realize that you are not supposed to be here, and that I can have you arrested for showing up."

"My, my, overreacting aren't we Zuzu? I was just going for a stroll. But really, Zuko." Azula's lips curved into a sneer. "Even if you wanted to, do you really think you could do anything? Remember, this used to be _my _kingdom. After three years, you should've learned by now… You can put me in jail as many times as you want, but I'll always be here. Free. Bars can't keep me from the world and neither can you."

"I'm telling you Azula. Leave or I won't hesitate to settle this the hard way." Zuko's voice was firm.

Azula snorted. "Awwwww…. Does little Zuzu want to fight? Don't worry…. I'm twice as ready as you'll ever be."

"I don't need to fight you Azula. I could make you fight the entire fire nation army if I wanted to."

"Really? Did you pick up some new chores since we last met? In that case, call the army. I'm ready for it."

"Forget it Azula, I have better things to do."

He turned around and walked away with a smirk on his face, knowing she couldn't do anything about it. As the Fire nation ambassador in Ba Sing Se, he had utmost protection and care….fighting him here would be suicidal.

Just one of the offside benefits to the being an ambassador in Ba Sing Se


	2. Chapter 1

"Welcome to the Earth Kingdom of Ba Sing Se, Ambassador!" A man with an air of recognition walked up to greet Katara the minute she walked through the walls.

"Long Feng?" Katara's eyes widened with surprise as recognized the greeter.

"Yes, it's me." Long Feng chuckled. "Don't be surprised Ambassador. Many things have changed over time. The king trusts me once again. But don't worry. There are guards all around us too, just in case."

"Well then Long Feng, lets go! It's so good to be back. You don't need to call me Ambassador. You can always call me Katara."

"Anything you say. Now tell me, how are things in the Southern Water tribe?"

"First of all, I'm representing both the Southern and the Northern Water tribes this time. The Northern tribe ambassador was unable to make the trip."

"Is that why it took so long to get here?" a smirk crossed the face of the former head of the Dai Li "We were worried that you would not make it here on time."

Katara smiled. "Actually, I was at the western air temple. I was helping Aang and Sokka renovate it. It's amazing how much time it takes to rebuild and refurnish even with bending." She went on to talk about all that they had done there.

"…. Yes that sounds fascinating." Long Feng politely cut her off. "Now let me take you to your room. Enough time has been wasted as is…" He led her away to what looked like part of the palace. Instead she found herself in a beautiful hotel with Long Feng confirming her reservations and taking care of her luggage and room keys. Katara followed Long Feng up the elevator powered by earth benders and found herself in front of a huge and elaborately decorated door.

"Alright, here we are. The ambassador meeting will take place at 7:30 this evening. Please do not be late. Enjoy your stay at Ba Sing Se" Long Feng smiled at Katara again, and walked off.

As he walked away, Katara felt a pang of doubt and loneliness surround her. Could she really trust Long Feng after everything he had done? Was he really good, or was he just acting? Hopefully the king had a better head now since regaining the kingdom. As she pondered her thoughts went back to her last visit to Ba Sing Se. Azula taking over, being trapped in the crystal catacombs, Aang getting hurt. Zuko's betrayal….

Shaking her head to clear her mind of the past, Katara opened the door and looked around. She found herself in a beautiful suite filled with dedications to the different nations: Air, Water, Fire, and Earth. It was a beautiful collage of the world. Katara realized how hard the designers must have worked to keep the suite so open minded for the ambassadors… Well, that was politics….

The water bender strolled into the bedroom of the suite and fell into the bed with a sigh and arms stretched overhead. Before she could relax, however, she heard a crash at the door and a happy:

"KATARA! Where are you?!?!"

Apparently, Toph had already felt Katara's movements. Katara smiled, and called back, "One second. I'll be right there."

She jumped out of bed and rushed out to the front room where she found Toph standing in the doorway with the doors broken behind her and an impatient smirk on her face.

"What took you so long Katara? I've been waiting forever. The earth king was getting impatient too. You're the last one here….wait, I remember, you were at…wait! What's it look like? I remember that it was all a mess when we went there last. It was a lot better than what it was like at first, but still bad." Toph had begun an endless stream of questions as soon as Katara opened the door.

"Oh! The Air Temple? Yea, it's gotten a lot better now actually. It actually looks really nice. It's gotten a lot harder since you left though. Now, Aang's the only real earth bender there working 24/7…………"

As she thought about Aang, she felt a flush build up on her face that Toph couldn't see. The earth bender, however, did notice the sudden lapse of attention.

"Katara? Are you ok?"

Katara jumped. "Yea. I'm fine ––"

"I can tell you're lying, you know… Wait." Toph paused, "Do you like AANG?!?! Ewwwww…. Kataraaaaaaa…."

Katara's face burned red with embarrassment while Toph put on a smirk of superiority and understanding.

"No. Toph, it's nothing like that…. I mean… I don't like him like that." She struggled to explain her relationship with Aang. "I like Aang, but not the way you think I do. I love him as a brother, not anything else. You wouldn't understand…"

"You know what? You suck at lying Katara. I don't even need to feel your heart beat to figure that out." Toph burst out laughing, "Wow… who would have guessed anyways?"

"TOPH! Errghhhh….. never mind that. Why are you so anxious to know, anyways? I didn't know that you cared."

"I don't. I just hate it when you do all that mushy-gushy stuff."

"Whatever." Deciding it best to change topics, Katara asked, "Now, about this conference, who else is here?"

"Well, there is one official ambassador from each nation and then there are smaller people from other provinces and all too, so all in all it's a lot of people around here. And remember, I'm right next door with the biggest suite in the whole embassy…"

Katara's mouth dropped open. "You got the BIGGEST suite?" Toph ignored her and continued.

"—so that shouldn't be too much of a problem. Still, don't get lost. I only know a few of the ambassadors so don't be surprised at the meeting. There isn't anyone from the Air nation, unless if Aang decides to drop in, but there is an unofficial representative whose name I could care less about. You're representing both water nations, duh, and Zuko's with the fire nation. And then I'm showing up for the earth kingdom while Haru's here representing his village and because they were taken over by the fire nation and all that… that's basically everybody I know."

"Wow. Zuko's here? I haven't seen him since we defeated the fire lord… I mean Ozai."

"Yeah," Toph snapped her head up. "Hey what time is it Katara? We gotta get to the meeting. I hate this 'being on time'…"


	3. Chapter 2

There was still time before the meeting began, but already there was nothing to do. With the other option being sitting around, Zuko decided to send a letter to the fire lord to tell him about his experiences in Ba Sing Se. He knew that Iroh would want to know about his encounter with Azula.

_Dear Uncle,_

_Ba__ Sing Se is nice. Things have changed since we were here. I sold the Jasmine Dragon __like__ you told me to and gave the store to refuge from the war._

_I__ also wanted to tell you that __Azula__ broke out of jail again. She claims that __she's__ undefeatable, but our meeting escalated to nothing more than big words. I think that we should __used__ the fire army to capture her and reinforce her punishment. Knowing __Azula__, I __wouldn't__ be surprised if she decided to return to the Fire Nation._

_Since the end of the war, __I__ feel stronger than __Azula__I__ have more power than I could ever imagine having with my father alive. For once, everything feels good. _

_Zuko_

_Heir to the Throne, Commander of the Armies, Ambassador__ for the Fire Nation_

As he went to send the letter, the festivities of the city surrounded him. Everywhere he looked, festive lanterns illuminated the area with a warm, welcoming feeling, and delicious aromas enticed him at every turn. Yet despite the allure of the good food and happy spirits filling Ba Sing Se, Zuko did not pause to indulge as he continued to his destination.

With his message sent and the meeting time approaching, Zuko returned to the conference room. When he arrived, it was empty except for two ambassadors and another representative from the Earth Kingdom. He recognized the smaller ambassador at once. It was the blind earth bender. She was supposed to be the one of the strongest – she could bend metal. Zuko recalled his encounter with her. It had not been pleasant. The girl still didn't trust him, and despite the fact that they had overthrown Ozai together, they were still enemies. Her name, he recalled, was Toph.

He didn't seem to know the other ambassador. Taking a closer look at her, he recognized that she was from the Water Nation. Yet the style of her clothing was different. It looked like that from the Fire Nation. Past that, he could see that she was quite beautiful. The flowing brown hair framed crystal blue eyes perfectly. Her glistening skin covering the hard-earned muscles, giving her a gentle – not fragile – look. As he watched, she turned to her companion, anxiety written across her face.

"Toph, do you think we came too early? There's no one here besides us. Do you think they're coming?"

"Most of them are right outside. I think we're ok Katara. What do you think Haru?"

The representative from the earth kingdom turned toward them with an air of calm superiority, but smiled.

"I think we are ok. Don't worry Katara. You'll be fine."

Katara…

Her name was everything he needed to remember her. She had been the water bender who trained the Avatar. It had been her necklace. How many times had he fought her?

Yet, she had easily accepted him into their group to fight the fire nation. She had wanted to heal his scar here in Ba Sing Se. He tried not to think too much about what came after that, when he had become a traitor while helping Azula nearly kill the Avatar and claim the earth city for herself.

He looked at her again. She was definitely different. Three years and things had changed dramatically.

"Fire Ambassador Zuko, please take a seat." He looked up from his thoughts. A lot more people had arrived since earlier. He sat down.

The meeting was about to begin.

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"So we have come up with good agreements have we not ambassador? I believe that both nations can benefit from sharing the fishing waters on the southern coast." The earth king looked to both ambassadors with an apprehensive smile. "There should be plenty for everyone."

A smile flashed across Zuko's face. Or was it a sneer? "Don't worry your highness. I am sure that everything will go according to plan. The Fire Nation will be honored to act out such noble goals."

"I however believe that this plan is benefiting the Fire Nation more than the Water Nations." Katara cut in, trying to hide her indignation at the bias of the plans. "This is ridiculous. The Water Nation should be allowed at least 1000 km more as fishing territory. Our homes are ice caps half of the year and much of our fishing water will be frozen as well. The Fire Nation never has to bother with these kinds of problems. They can survive without that much water. And what about the trade routes? If the Water Nation does not control at least 20 routes combined, we will die out. It is not possible for us to grow vegetables in the north and south poles. The plan simply favors the Fire Nation to an unbelievable extreme. During the war the only place that really survived was the Fire Nation. The rest of the world was practically destroyed."

Zuko glared at her. "What is that supposed to mean? That the fire nation has been benefiting in the past and should therefore suffer now?"

"No!" Katara calm demeanor was slipping, but for good reason. She turned to the other ambassadors, hoping for some support. "It means that the Fire Nation has had enough advantages as it is. We are recovering from a war and we need to help the areas that were hurt the hardest. All the nations except for the Fire Nation were harmed by the war in some way and therefore they need more help than the Fire Nation at the current moment—"

"That's a lie!" Zuko burst out in outrage. "The fire nation has suffered just as much as any other nation. Our whole government had to be reorganized, the final battles of the war were fought there and our entire capital was destroyed. How can a nation survive without its government? We need the funds just as much as any other nation, not more not less."

The two ambassadors glared at one another. Neither noticed the entire room quieting down to watch them.

Zuko's mind swirled with anger and regret at the blue eyes that glared back at him.

Those eyes, he remembered, were the same crystal catacombs that had filled with doubt and joy when he joined them to defeat Ozai, then elation when they had ended the war. Now, however, they burned with anger. But he wouldn't back down. He knew his position was just as reasonable as hers. He didn't exactly want to fight, but there was not way he wouldn't if that's what it came to.

From the other side of the room, Katara stared at the gold eyes that, she knew, held so much emotion deep inside. Now, however, the only thing she saw was the rage reflective of her own. She knew she was right. The fire nation would do anything to get what they wanted, but so would she. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

Suddenly the floor gave away and the ambassadors fell into the unknown.

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R&R please, but no flames. If u don't want to read it, don't; Nobody's gonna miss you. But NO FLAMES.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter Three:

The intense throbbing at his temple increased as Zuko forced himself into a sitting position and opened his eyes. As his eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, his ears picked up a call for help. The voice was familiar, and Zuko recognized it as the girl he had argued with. _Katara … Her name is Katara …_ The memories flooded back to him, and he took a moment to reminisce of what they had accomplished together. He was reliving the point where he taught the avatar when a fragile cry jostled him out of his thoughts, and belatedly, Zuko realized that she was still calling for help.

Slowly he stood up and brushed off the dust covering his clothes as he waited for the world to stop spinning. Carefully, he began to maneuver his way around the rubble towards her voice, ignoring his protesting headache. A short while later, Zuko found the water ambassador trapped most precariously under a large column, among other pieces of architecture. The quiet chuckle fell from his lip at her disgruntled expression, no doubt from being unable to free herself.

He called out her name quietly, and despite her appearance her voice was filled with relief, "Finally, Sokka. It's not funny. Now get me out of here."

The small smile on his face instantly turned at Katara's mistake. Gold eyes narrowed imperceptibly in annoyance that she could mistake he, the crown prince of the Fire Nation with her fool of a brother. However, Zuko immediately remembered how the boy had taken on both Mai and Ty Lee with the assistance of the Kyoshi warrior, albeit being poisoned and unconscious before the fight was over. Ultimately deciding that perhaps Sokka could be useful, Zuko returned to the situation at hand.

After a moment of thought, he realized the choices to free the blood bender had been narrowed down to two actions. He could either move the column off of Katara, or move Katara from underneath the column. Seeing that the column was quite large, and observing that moving it would probably only trap Katara further, Zuko began the tedious task of removing the rubble surrounding the column and trapped water bender. Having finally cleared a large enough space, he reached in.

Preoccupied with her own thoughts, Katara yelped when her arm was suddenly pulled backwards. She was then dragged out from underneath the pillar and unceremoniously dragged across floor. Sitting up and dusting her clothes off, the infuriated woman turned around quickly, wincing as the blood returned to her limbs. When she felt a hand grasping her arm, Katara opened her mouth to yell at Sokka to be more careful, only to realize that her brother had gold eyes –

When their eyes met, Zuko froze. Neither of them noticed their proximity or the fact that he still held her arm in his hand as gold depths stared into wide blue orbs, the same brilliant eyes that had looked upon him so caringly in the catacombs so long ago. And those eyes 

belonged to a person just as kind, the first person after his uncle willing to try and understand him.

That was the first time, he remembered, that she had attracted him. He had felt something stir deep within him seeing her listen to him, tend to him. And that something had burned at the possessiveness the air bender had shown that day. But in the end, she had accepted him, the brown-haired water bender's spirit had changed him, and he was drawn even closer to her.

While Zuko's thoughts drifted, Katara had been staring intently at his face. She had watched his face move from its frozen state to sad, to angry, to content, and for a moment, something else flashed in his eyes, but it was gone before she could decipher it.

At this time, she also realized that his hold on her arm had not loosened during his period of daydream, and swiftly shook his hand off. At the movement, Zuko jumped, and promptly hit his head on an overhanging piece of rubble. His eyes moved wildly before closing as he focused on massaging his head. The extra pain from his encounter with the rock had done nothing to improve his headache.

"Zuko?" He looked up.

"Where are we?"

**A/N: YAY! im back! i have finally been inspired to write more... -- im quiet lazy and school doesn't help much... but there were some important discoveries during this time... including watching new avatar episodes... THOSE NEED TO AIR! ok... phew.. now that that's over, lets get on to the important news: **

**I finally cut down on the converstations.. i think i had 2 many before... anyways.. i wanna thank my new BETA: Romanceismydoom for all her support and dedication and congratulate her for being able to be my BETA! jk.. but THANK U ROMANCEISMYDOOOM!**

**ps. if i don't put up something for more than a week, feel free to send me a message from my profile!**

**until next time, Petalsofmydreams**


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